Ryan Gosling delighted his "car-phobic" director by taking stunt-driving lessons for his role as a getaway driver in his new film.

The Canadian actor teams up with Never Let Me Go star Carey Mulligan in Drive, which is about a Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a driver-for-hire for the Los Angeles underworld.

Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn said he was excited when he saw Ryan get behind the wheel - especially because the filmmaker himself cannot drive.

Winding Refn told Screen magazine: "I've tried eight times to get a licence and I've been in three car crashes.

"Maybe I'm car-phobic."

The film, which also stars Mad Men actress Christina Hendricks, is in the running for this year's Palme d'Or.

Ryan and Nicolas also bonded over an unlikely affection for middle-of-the-road American rockers REO Speedwagon.

The actor was giving the director a lift home after their first meeting when the band's hit Can't Fight This Feeling came on the radio and the director started to sing along. Ryan said: "I knew in that moment that Nicolas was the right filmmaker for the film."

Carey Mulligan said she campaigned to get the part after she saw Bronson - Winding Refn's bio-pic of Welsh criminal Michael Peterson who changed his name to Charles Bronson in prison - and was impressed by his work.

She was also impressed with her co-star Ryan, saying: "Ryan's got this sort of lone cowboy thing and the minute the camera turns on, he's like this knight."